Memoirs of a Soon-to-Be Former Fat Guy

Good morning, campers!

I still write from the Chair of Doom. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you aren’t stuck sitting in it about 14 hours a day. See, I still have to keep off the Toe of Wonders as much as possible, so… here I sit. I’ve spent so much time welded to this chair that my ass is going to assume a complementary shape before too long.

There’s good news, though. All the doctors seem to think that it’s healing up pretty nicely. I keep threatening to take a picture of the toe, just to post on here, but The Management says that wouldn’t be a particularly good idea. I might use a word picture to describe things, but that would probably be a little graphic as well.

Getting back to the doctors, the infectious disease doctors say that the strep is going away. Three more weeks of antibiotics and I should be ready to go. The surgeon wants an X-ray, which I’ll get done on Wednesday, but they are probably going to amputate the tip of the toe. Apparently, the bone loss from the infection has really been severe and if they leave the whole toe, the risk for further infection is quite significant. I’m troubled by having part of my body cut off and tossed away like garbage, but if it improves my overall health and reduces my chances for further visits to the hospital, I can deal with it. I might ask if I can have the piece and put it in a Lucite block as a paperweight, but Laura says that’s creepy.

So, next week will bring more doctor visits. I see the infections doc on Tuesday who will look at the toe and review the bloodwork and make sure it’s all kosher. I see our new internist on Wednesday. This will be my first time with a woman physician. It’s not that I’m a sexist about it, but I just always had a male doctor. We shall see how it goes. I also will get the X-ray done that day.

Finally, I see the surgeon on Friday who will let me know about the X-ray and maybe a timetable for the snip job. He assures me that after the amputation, I’m back to normal (or what passes for normal with me) in two weeks. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Finally, I’d like to give a shout out to everyone who has taken care of me. At LGH, the biggest shout outs go to Dr. Christopher Addis and Dr. Jennifer Delutis, both of whom took great care of me and got me started on the road to better diabetes management. Not to mention they both have Penn State ties, which counts for a lot. Also, Tabby Jones, the diabetes educator who answers all my silly questions and genuinely cares about my concerns. This is a new thing for me. I also would like to thank the nursing team on 8 North who really took good care of me. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Dr. Michael Flood, surgeon extraordinaire, who carved up my toe like a Thanksgiving turkey, but saved the rest of my foot. Thanks for keeping me upright.

Since I’ve been back home, I’d also like to give a big thank you to the people from the visiting nurse association. All of the nurses who have cared for me have been skilled and professional and have been more than willing to share their expertise and suggestions for dealing with diabetes.

Thanks also go out to my friends who have sent well-wishes and kept us in their thoughts. I know it’s helping me get better faster with all the positive vibes. Specific thanks go out to our Disney crew, most notably Mike Newell, who have been live streaming  events from Reunion and whetting our appetite for next December. I would also like to thank our friend Margot who has come over to visit regularly and cooked dinner for us.

The final and biggest thanks go out to my two biggest caregivers. They are my lovely wife and my mother. They have been taking good care of me and sacrificing a lot until I can get better. If it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure where I’d be. They can drive you nuts, but it’s for the best… I’m usually trying to push the envelope, but slow and steady wins the race. So, Laura and mom, thank you. You guys completely rock.

Until next time, I wish you all good health and good shopping.